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Karen, who has lived on the road with her husband, Jason, for 12 years, went outside to find the massive swarm gathered just metres from her front door.

"Our neighbour said he’d first seen them swarming in the air and they’d landed briefly in their garden, then next door and then next door again," she said.

"They stayed put at about 1pm. He phoned the council for some advice and they said to leave them for a bit as sometimes they move on quite quickly.

"But they didn’t."

Young children walking past

Karen made a sign to keep children away from the bees

With the idea of parents and young children walking right into the path of a swarm of 60,000 bees, Karen took action and put up a sign to warn passers-by.

"I put up a couple of signs because I was worried about the school children walking past," she explained. "It was coming up to the school run time and I know a lot of parents walk to Oaklands and Moulsham past our house and they weren’t that obvious.

"I didn’t want kids leaning against the wall and disturbing the bees. A few people came and looked at them."

The beekeepers were called in

The beekeepers waited until most of the bees had entered the box

Later that evening, Karen contacted the Essex Beekeepers' Association (EBKA).

She said: "I spoke to a lady who said she’d come round with her partner as soon as they could. They had a hive box and they put out a white sheet so they could see them as it was getting dark by then.

"They put on their suits and used their hands to scrape them down from the post into the box. They didn’t want to at first because they realised they didn’t have the Queen bee, but once they’d got the Queen in the box all the others followed."

According to the beekeepers, the swarm was looking for a new hive and they found a resting point outside Karen's house.

They had to wait for the Queen bee to move into the box

"The keepers stayed for an hour and a quarter to make sure they got as many as they could as any they didn’t take with them would die," Karen explained. "They said there were around 60,000 in total.

"I was glad to hear they took them to preserve them, it would have been awful to wake up and find them all dead.

"Once they were settled into the hive, they weren’t flying around much. But they’re away from here and the kids."

The bees have now been taken to hives at the beekeepers' home where it's hoped they'll settle.

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